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Reaching Olympic Heights – Insights on Sports Performance from Psychological Science
The 2012 Olympics in London are about to start, and millions around the world will admire and ponder the mysteries of athletic performance. Psychological scientists are no exception. Researchers have examined how visual illusions improve sports performance, how attitudes and beliefs about competence determine performance and what exactly happens when we indulge in silly sports rituals. These and other pieces of cutting edge research can be found in the journals published by the Association for Psychological Science.
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New Research From Psychological Science
Read about new research on memory recently published in Psychological Science. A Short-Term Testing Effect in Cross-Language Recognition Peter P. J. L. Verkoeijen, Samantha Bouwmeester, and Gino Camp Researchers know that repeated testing leads to better long-term memory for information than does repeated study; however, they are still unsure of why this occurs. Researchers had Dutch-English bilingual participants learn several lists of words in Dutch. In some instances they were tested after an initial study period (test condition), and in others they were told to study the list again (restudy condition). Participants' memory for the words was then tested in Dutch or English.
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The ‘Before’ of Training
Industry Week: "Everyone gets training," says Eduardo Salas, a psychology professor at the University of Central Florida. "But what matters? What works?" In a recent report, Salas and several co-authors explore those questions and reach multiple conclusions, one of which is that business leaders should view training as a system, not a one-time event. Indeed, they say what happens before and after the actual training is as important as the training itself. The report, published in "Psychological Science in the Public Interest," a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, outlines important steps to take pre-, during and post-training.
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People believe they are `investing in Karma` by doing good deeds
Asian News International: Waiting for an important, uncontrollable outcome in life may lead people to do good deeds with the implicit expectation that the universe will return the favour, a phenomenon they refer to as "investing in karma," a new research suggests. For so many important outcomes in life - applying for jobs, waiting for medical test results - there comes a point when you just have to sit back and hope for the best. But that doesn't mean we always behave that way. The new research suggested that even when an outcome is out of our control we often act as though we can still get on the good side of fate by doing good deeds.
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Why Americans and Europeans Give Directions Differently
The Atlantic - Cities: One of the charms of Europe is the irregular geography of its city streets. Meanwhile across the Atlantic many major American cities follow a fairly rigid (albeit intuitive) grid system. The local differences echo the broader approaches to land division there and here. While many boundaries in the Old World conform to the curves of nature, places in the United States generally follow a rectangular system imposed, in large part, by the Public Land Survey. It stands to reason that these different environments would leave distinct impressions on their respective residents. If the place you live in looks like a map, logic suggests you'll start to discuss it like one.
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So leicht lassen wir uns manipulieren (How easily we can manipulate ourselves)
Suddeutsche Zeitung: Warum wechselt Serena Williams ihre Socken nicht, so lange sie ein Turnier spielt? Zumindest erzählte die Wimbledon-Siegerin einmal, dass sie diese Marotte pflege. Die Frage könnte aber auch lauten: Warum zieht der Golfer Tiger Woods bei Turnieren sonntags am liebsten ein rotes Hemd an? Und weshalb trug der Basketball-Superstar Michael Jordan unter seinem Trikot immer seine alten Shorts aus Uni-Zeiten? Ganz einfach: Diese Marotten verleihen den Sportlern Sicherheit. Aus irgendeinem Grund betrachten sie die Kleidungsstücke als Erfolgsgaranten - und tatsächlich beeinflussen Stinkesocken mitunter die Leistung von Spitzensportlern.
